Anyone care to recommend a good Google Play- certified tablet? I'm looking for something in the 8" or larger size, with a storage card and bluetooth option.

Take a look at the Lenovo Ideatab A2109 or S2109. The are both selling around the $300 mark. The A2109 has a 9" 1290X800 screen with an OMAP4 processor and the S2109 has a 9.7" 1024X768 screen with a Tegra 3 processor.

I wanted a iPa2 knock-off so I just ordered the S2109. If you are interested, when it gets here I'll post my impressions of it.

My budget is a shoestring right now. I'm talking to AT&T about getting a cheaper wireless plan and move from a USB cell stick to a portable hotspot, but I don't have the money for a new device and activation fees just yet.

After all, I don't use Linux and FOSS everything, just for ideological reasons. The low sale price helps.

Edit: Just so we're all on the same page, my "must have" features are a memory card slot and bluetooth.

Take a look at the Lenovo Ideatab A2109 or S2109. The are both selling around the $300 mark. The A2109 has a 9" 1290X800 screen with an OMAP4 processor and the S2109 has a 9.7" 1024X768 screen with a Tegra 3 processor.
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My budget is a shoestring right now. I'm talking to AT&T about getting a cheaper wireless plan and move from a USB cell stick to a portable hotspot, but I don't have the money for a new device and activation fees just yet.

After all, I don't use Linux and FOSS everything, just for ideological reasons. The low sale price helps.

Edit: Just so we're all on the same page, my "must have" features are a memory card slot and bluetooth.

So I went by a store to do some comparisons, and the clerk suggested Asus or Toshiba(!). He said Acer was a good third pic, but hadn't ever tried a Lenovo one since they didn't carry them. I did receive one negative review of the Asus one, but that was several months ago and was one guy compared to the other recomendations I've seen.

I kinda prefer buying in a local store store because I can take it back for warranty calls easier than waiting for a call tag.

Anyone else got their own recomendations? Remember that my two killer features are a card slot and being able to use Google Play.

So I went by a store to do some comparisons, and the clerk suggested Asus or Toshiba(!). He said Acer was a good third pic, but hadn't ever tried a Lenovo one since they didn't carry them. I did receive one negative review of the Asus one, but that was several months ago and was one guy compared to the other recomendations I've seen.

I kinda prefer buying in a local store store because I can take it back for warranty calls easier than waiting for a call tag.

Anyone else got their own recommendations? Remember that my two killer features are a card slot and being able to use Google Play.

Well it depends what type of files your mainly going to be accessing on extermal storage.
A nexus 7 with a OTG cable + NEXUS MEDIA IMPORTER app -TOTAL price around $3 is great and at less than half the price of the other high spec tablets, its a real bargain.

Well it depends what type of files your mainly going to be accessing on extermal storage.
A nexus 7 with a OTG cable + NEXUS MEDIA IMPORTER app -TOTAL price around $3 is great and at less than half the price of the other high spec tablets, its a real bargain.

A Nexus 7 is a mite small; I saw another 7" tablet at the store and I'd really prefer something closer to the size of an iPad. It'd be dwarfed by the bluetooth keyboard.

As for the files, I'm going to be writing in .txt because that's what I always do. Write in windows-style .txt files, then move them to the desktop PC at home where I compile them into Smashwords or Amazon-ready documents. The only things I'm likely to put in system storage are wallpapers and ebooks.

Well if moneys tight then you will be a limited if you want a 9.7 inch screen ,so maybe a china tablet like the Onda Vi40 Dual core 32gb -$238 & Ainol Novo 7 Fire.

I was going to buy a Onda v40 myself but held off for the release of the nexus 7.

They don't have GPS and a few other gadgets like the nexus 7 but there a good price and this company is known in china to make good tablets.Also there screen resolution is a bit low for a 9.7 inch screen so it similar to a IPAD 2,And there is no bluetooth.
It terms of numbers sold there ,they put most big brands to shame.

They don't have GPS and a few other gadgets like the nexus 7 but there a good price and this company is known in china to make good tablets.Also there screen resolution is a bit low for a 9.7 inch screen so it similar to a IPAD 2,And there is no bluetooth.
It terms of numbers sold there ,they put most big brands to shame.

Lower resolution is fine by me; going above 96 DPI makes me squint. Bluetooth is a killer, though. I need to be able to connect a keyboard. This is going to be a writing tablet, not just a media player.

I bought an Archos 80 G9 Turbo tablet a few weeks ago and am very satisfied with it. It has a 8 inch 3:4 screen and is Google Play certified. Runs on Android 4 ICS and can play many kinds of videos. The special feature of this tablet is that it has a sliding door in the back which can be replaced by an optional 3G sim card holder. This compartment has a standard full sized USB port into which USB memory cards can be inserted (they have to be pretty small) and used as extra memory.
By the way, it also has a micro USB slot too and bluetooth. I have just tested the Sony bluetooth keyboard for their tablet on it and it works. If you want a bigger screen they also have the same thing with a 10 inch screen.
As Archos has just announced the imminent arrival of their G10 product line, the G9 machines are slowly being reduced in price so they are good deals at the moment.
Here is a review of the machine and other comments.http://androidandme.com/2012/04/revi...-turbo-review/
Update:
Actually someone on Mobile already bought one and wrote about his impressions here:http://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=175665